**this blog was written four years ago and inspired the title of my new book. The book is now out, and here is the link: http://amzn.to/2wccPvf

Have you ever felt like you were going through your days like Charlie Brown’s teacher?  You know, the one you never get to see, but only get to hear?

It’s enough to make you realize she’s missing more than a little enthusiasm.

Maybe you’ve been there. Maybe you are there.

Sometimes you are just going through the motions of life (wah wah wah wah wah wah…)

When all of a sudden WHAM!

You look up, and see a million stars.

Or…

A sunset stuns you.

A  preacher speaks- and suddenly you are the only one in the audience.

A sentence in a book grabs you.

A health scare jolts you.

And life wakes you up. Or maybe more appropriately, God wakes you up.
You know those moments.
When I was at Fuller Seminary, I had a professor who helped me name those moments.  His name was Ray Anderson, and he was a brilliant teacher; so much so that on the first day of his class I didn’t understand one word he said. But I hung with him, and slowly I picked up a few of his words that stayed with me. Most memorable was a phrase he used: “the Agogic moment.” It was originally coined by a French author named Jacob Firet, and he used it to describe those moments where the volume gets turned up, or blinders are stripped away, and you are met by something bigger than yourself.

Agogic moment.

Suddenly, you are fully alive.

And for a limited time after these moments, you think and act differently.
You breathe deeper. Move slower.
You look at people in a different way.
A trip to the grocery store becomes more than just buying food; you actually see people. You begin to wonder what the guy over in produce has going on in his life. Maybe he just got a raise. Or engaged. Or maybe he’s just been told he has six months to live.

You care.

And for a limited time, the important replaces the urgent.

You hug your child harder. Appreciate your spouse more. Love your friends better. Care more about people in need.

And your circumstances change- if only for a moment- because of the way you live them.

But time passes and you go back to normal life and… wah wah wah wah wah wah…   Until

The next agogic moment.

Which changes nothing, but changes everything.

Just because of the way you see.

How would my life change if I lived longer in those moments? How would yours?